British Industry and Services: Public Procurement

Earl of Effingham Excerpts

Tuesday 7th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The Department for Transport has recently published its 10-year pipeline for zero-emission buses, covering procurement through to 2035. That will give British manufacturers, including Wrightbus in Antrim, the long-term certainty they need to plan ahead and invest in their workforce, which is key for delivery. In addition, the UK bus manufacturing panel, which is cross-government, recently agreed on a number of mayoral commitments, including a minimum 10% social value rating in all future bus procurement tenders, bringing it in line with the social value policy applicable to central government departments. That should assist Wrightbus.

[The Earl of Effingham (Con)]

If the Government’s policy is to prioritise British industry, can the Minister explain why one of the first projects being carried out by Great British Energy is to install, in 100 of our schools, solar panels that are either Chinese-made or include Chinese components, many of which are sourced from Xinjiang province and produced by Uyghur labour?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I welcome the noble Earl’s new commitment—maybe it is not new —to supply chains and to where components come from. Many of these contracts were signed by previous Governments. We have had many discussions, not least with the noble Earl, about the role of Uyghur labour, which is abhorrent and needs to be taken out of the supply chain. However, we need sovereign capability to replace it with. As I said, that includes sovereign skills capability and investment in manufacturing. People need certainty about contracts coming forward; that has to be delivered too.